January 10 – January 30, 2015
Neuro Clips:
Connection between childhood adversity, psychiatric disorders seen at cellular level
Summary: In a recent study, researchers assessed 299 healthy community adults for psychiatric disorders and childhood adversity. The study results demonstrate that participants with childhood adversity and lifetime psychopathology had alterations of the mitochondrial DNA. These findings suggest possible cellular links to psychiatric disorders and other stress-related conditions.
Students master math through movement using Kinect for Windows
Summary: Researchers incorporated the Kinect into mathematics training for third and fourth-graders. The training program engaged students in a series of tasks that required body movements in angles. The program proved to enhance learning gains for those that participated in the movement lessons versus students that did not. These results have implications for future instructional techniques.
MRIs link impaired brain activity to inability to regulate emotions in autism
Summary: A recent study explores the neural correlates of common autism symptoms such as tantrums, irritability, self-injury, depression, and anxiety using fMRI. The study findings suggest that brain activity differs in autistic individuals during processes of emotion regulation. These findings have intervention and policy implications for the classification of the core symptomology of autism. Also, these findings may have an implication on social and emotional development instructional techniques for children with autism.
Association between parental time pressure, mental health problems among children
Summary: In a recent study, researchers examined the impact of parents’ stresses and pressures on the psychological wellbeing of their children. The findings suggest that children of parents who experienced time pressure were almost twice as likely to suffer from psychological problems. Additionally, parents’ financial stress was also associated with mental health problems in children, although it was not as closely related.
Facebook not to blame for negative impact on grades, professor says
Summary: Researchers explored the impact of Facebook use on the grades of college students at Iowa State University. The researchers found that for freshmen, all Facebook use had a negative impact on grades. GPA was impacted for sophomores and juniors that used Facebook while doing their homework, and there was no relationship for seniors. Researchers propose that these findings suggest that all Facebook use is bad, but rather as students develop self-regulation skills throughout their college careers, they are better equipped to balance the distractions.
The Fundamentals of Neuropedagogy
Summary: Authors explore the fundamental principles of neuropedagogy as it relates to translating brain science into education for applications to influence child development and learning.
Kids Sustain 240 Head Hits on Average During Football Season
Summary: Author provides a critical analysis of recently published article in Neurology journal about the impact of concussions accumulated by players who started playing before the age of 12 and those who did not. The article’s findings present that players who began playing before age 12 suffered from greater cognitive impairment in areas of executive function, memory, and intelligence. The author, however, points out the small sample size of the study and its failure to include a comparison group of players who stopped playing after high school or college.
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